Midnight
by tilante
Summary: As Justin leaves for college, Alex's world crumbles.  Angst.  Not an AGP-verse story.
1. Chapter 1

It was midnight, and Justin Russo was worried about his sister. _She should have been back hours ago. Even if she doesn't know better, Mason should. _He scowled, looking around at the living room. _And it _should_ be Mom and Dad waiting up for her like this, not me. _He dug a finger into his neck, scratched it hard. _Feels like I'm the only responsible one around here._

Taking a deep breath, Justin took another look around. The open living space was full of memories - fights between him and Alex, magic gone wrong. It was here that she'd told him why she'd made the duplicate of him that she'd sent off to college, that he'd told her that he wanted to go to med school. Here they'd fought, argued, made up, hugged...

_And I'm leaving in two days. _It was going to be strange, living in California. He'd wanted to go to Harvard or Johns Hopkins, but their programs were incredibly competitive... and also incredibly expensive. UCSF wasn't as prestigious, but it was ranked in the top five medical schools in the country for doctors aiming to go into medical research, and it cost only about a quarter of what the other two did.

He'd be on the other side of the country, but maybe that would be a good thing. _I'm not going to have time to be fixing all the problems here. Alex is just going to have to -_

There was a sound at the door, and Justin looked up, watched as it opened and Alex came in, moving quietly as she could. Mason was still out in the hall, and the two of them spoke softly for a moment, too softly for Justin to make our the words, but the tones he knew. He knew all of Alex's tones - angry, mocking, happy, whimsical, wheedling, distraught, every emotion a voice could carry, he'd heard all of them from his little sister, at one time or another.

Now, her voice was happy, tinged with regret for an evening over before she wanted it to be. Mason responded, and those tones Justin didn't know as well, but he could imagine the boy's response - reluctant to leave, but needing to nevertheless. Standing up, Justin walked to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, poured himself a drink, concentrating on the gurgling sound, suddenly not wanting to hear them.

Once the glass was full, he put the carton away, closed the refrigerator door, then drank quickly, letting the sound of his own swallowing be his focus. Before the glass was empty, the bright yellow door opened, and Alex came in, sidling through into the living room. With the lights on, she knew immediately that someone was up, and she looked about, then rolled her eyes as she saw Justin.

Justin turned, set the dirty glass in the sink. "You're late," he said, his tone even, his voice level.

"Yeah, well, to quote a certain someone, I no longer have a legally enforceable curfew." Alex hung her jacket by the door, started toward the stairs. "So you don't need to wait up for me."

Closing his eyes for half a second, Justin bit back the first retort that came to mind. Instead, he said, "Alex... you need to learn to be more responsible. I'm not going to be here in a few days. You -"

Already three steps up the stairs, Alex whirled and looked down at her brother. "Spare me the lecture, okay? I'm a big girl now, Justin. I know what I'm doing. In case you've forgotten, I can do magic too," she said, pulling out her wand and circling the tip in the air. "And I'm out with a _werewolf_. Anyone who tries to mug us or something is going to wish they'd picked someone else."

Frowning, Justin crossed his arms, coloring a little as he did. "Alex... I know you can take care of yourself like that. It's just -" He stopped then, unable to get the words out. _It's just that I worry about you. It's just that you're too impulsive, too likely to do something you'll regret and can't undo._

"What?" Alex walked back down the stairs, over to Justin, stopped a couple of feet in front of him. "If you're that worried about me," she said, her tone sliding from annoyance into anger, "why are you moving out to California? Shouldn't you stay here, where you can watch me? Huh?"

Justin looked away and down, said, "Alex... you know why I'm leaving. Please, let's not argue about this again."

"Yeah," Alex snapped then, turning as she did and going up the stairs hurriedly, making Justin cringe with the way she stomped on them. "Let's not. You're not Dad, Justin, as much as you'd like to be." Reaching the top of the stairs, she stopped, bowed her head down a little to look at him. "And you know what? I wish you were gone already!"

Alex stared at her brother for a moment as he blinked at the acidic anger in her tone, his mouth open, unspeaking. There was hurt in his eyes, and she knew she shouldn't have said that, but she was too angry, too frustrated, too _hurt_ to take it back, so instead she stood back up and hurried to her room, before the tears could rise up and betray her.

Watching her go, Justin swallowed and blinked quickly. _Damn allergies,_ he thought, but he knew quite well that the burning sensation in his eyes had nothing to do with pollen. _She didn't mean that. Not really. Right?_

The next day was Saturday, and Alex stayed in bed even later than usual, not emerging until almost four in the afternoon. She came out irritable, snapped at Max as he ran back and forth, trying to be helpful in getting Justin's last things together. His flight was leaving at five in the morning - something about tickets that she'd tuned out as soon as her dad had said 'lowest price' - and of course, Justin had to have everything ready and laid out to go.

Mom was cooking already, and she made tut-tut faces as Alex pulled frozen pancakes and microwave bacon out of the refrigerator. "Mija, we're going to be eating in just a couple of hours. You _know_ that. Why you'd want to wait so late to get up on your brother's last day here -"

Alex was just as used to tuning out her mom's rants as she was her dad's, though, so she simply stood and watched the turntable in the microwave, humming as she did, doing her best to ignore all the activity around her as well.

Feet came down the stairs, and she knew without looking that it was Justin. He was the only one in the family that walked like that on the stairs, quickly and almost noiselessly. Max and Jerry didn't care about noise, and Theresa complained when other people made it, but didn't do anything about her own, while Harper was slower on the stairs than Justin.

_And tomorrow I won't hear those feet on the stairs._ _No. No. No thinking about that._ The microwave dinged, and Alex took her plate up to her room, turned on her stereo so she wouldn't have to hear everyone moving around below, getting things ready to go, and ate as slowly as she could.

_And I wonder if you know_

_that I never understood._

_That although you said you'd go,_

_until you did, I never thought you would._

_- _Don McLean, "Empty Chairs"


	2. Chapter 2

It was midnight, and Alex Russo's world was ending.

_I can't believe this. After everything we've been through together._ In five short hours, Justin's flight would be leaving, taking him away to medical school. Alex hugged her teddy bear, unconsciously moving her hand to the rip where its stuffing was coming out and picking some out.

_He said he'd never leave me. I guess 'never' only lasts about three years_, she thought sourly, her mouth twisting. _He's going to California, and I'm stuck here._

Alex rolled onto her back, looked up at the ceiling, sighed, then slid out of bed. Well, if I'm not sleeping, no reason why he should be, she thought as she headed out her door - leaving her bear on the bed - and into Justin's room.

Closing Justin's door, Alex stopped and looked at him for a moment. _Sleeping just fine. Of course. Well, we'll see how long that lasts._ Walking over to the foot of Justin's bed, Alex looked at if for a moment, narrowed her eyes with a tight grin, then jumped forward, doing a belly-flop onto it, right beside her brother.

Startled awake, Justin sat up and looked around wildly, saying, "Ah! Ah!

_Dah-bee-do do-dee-ah-kay_!" he cried out, speaking his and Zeke's alien language. "Don't attack!", throwing up his arms in front of his face and sliding over to the edge of the bed as he did.

Alex stared at him, grinning. After a second, Justin lowered his arms, opened his eyes, then pointed at Alex, said, "You! What are -" and then slid off the bed and fell on the floor with a thump.

"Hi," Alex said, moving over to the edge of the bed and waving at Justin as he sat up on the floor, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm bored. Entertain me."

"What?" Justin shook his head, pointed to the clock. "Alex! It's after midnight! I have to be up in two hours, so we can get to the airport more than two hours ahead of time for my flight - what are you waking me up _now_ for?"

Rolling her eyes, Alex said, "If you were _listening_, I just _told_ you. 'I'm bored, entertain me.' Jeez, Justin - don't you ever listen to anything I say?"

"You're bored?" Justin shook his head, then stood up, gestured toward the door. "Alex, you _should_ be bored - you should be _asleep_!"

"Yeah, well, in case you didn't notice, I'm not. So you need to entertain me." Alex lay down on her stomach across Justin's bed, propping her chin on her hands, kicked her feet in the air. "Do something entertaining. Like, fall off the bed again. That was fun to watch."

"No!" Justin moved over to the edge of the bed and got on his knees, putting his face a few inches from Alex's. She smiled prettily, not moving back any.

"No? How would you know? You didn't get to watch it. Trust me, it was funny. I'm still having to fight down the giggle from it." She cocked her head to one side, smiled a little more, kicked her legs again.

Justin's jaw set angrily, and his eyes narrowed - and Alex smiled even more, then reached out with one hand and pinched his cheek. "You know, you're so _cute_ when you're angry." She watched as her brother's mouth stopped, half-open, as he purpled even more.

"I am _not_ cute," Justin ground out. Alex moved closer, their noses almost touching now, and Alex nodded.

"You are. Sooo cute, turning purple like that. I should take pictures and show them. Girls would swoon."

Justin's jaw muscles tightened even more, but he didn't move back, instead stayed right there, faces together. Alex's eyes seemed bigger than usual, and he could feel her breath on his mouth, hot and sweet. He opened his mouth to answer, her, then closed it again. _No. That's her game. Don't try to beat her at it._

Instead, he moved closer, so close their noses actually were touching now, looked straight into his little sister's eyes. "All right. I don't know why you're doing this, but you know what? Tomorrow at this time, I'm going to be two thousand miles away from here, so tonight… I'm going to let you win."

Alex blinked, not having expected that, and then Justin grinned as he pulled away, standing up. Spreading his arms, he gave Alex a bow. "So - I am your entertainment for the next two hours, my darling sister. What shall I do to entertain you?"

If there was anything Alex knew how to do, it was roll with things. She sat up, swinging her legs around as she did to sit cross-legged, then clapped her hands like a kid at a show, bouncing up and down a little as she did. "Yay! Do the falling thing again!"

Justin rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he bowed as he did. "Certainly, if that is what my darling little sister wishes." He sat down on the edge of the bed, knees almost touching Alex's, about three inches of his butt actually off the edge. It took only a moment before he started to slide, and Justin threw his arms out as if actually surprised, and once again thumped onto the floor.

Alex threw her hands to her mouth, eyes going wide, then came over to the edge of the bed on hands and knees again, just as before. "I can't believe you actually did that," she said, shaking her head. "Are you okay? Did that hurt?"

Sitting up, Justin said "Yes," then grinned again, made a flourish with his hand as he bowed to Alex. "But my injuries are as nothing to your enjoyment. Pray tell me that you did enjoy?"

"I did, I did," Alex said, nodding. She reached a hand out to Justin then, and he took it to stand up, got halfway up when Alex let go, making him fall again. "Sorry," she said without a trace of sincerity.

"Uh-huh," Justin said with a dirty look as he got up, this time without looking for any help. He bowed again, said, "Am I sufficiently entertaining?"

"Not really," Alex replied, shaking her head and standing up off the bed. "But you're what I've got, so I'll just have to make do." To Justin's surprise, she moved to him and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing up against him. "Thank you."

That brought an actual smile from Justin, and he put his arms around his little sister's waist, then squeezed lightly. "You're welcome." Alex nestled her head against his neck and shoulder, continued to hang on, and after a couple of seconds, Justin frowned.

"Hey… are you okay?" Justin shifted his arms up a bit, to Alex's back, pulled her in closer. "What's wrong, Alex. Tell me."

He couldn't see her shake her head, but he could feel it. Justin brought his left hand up and stroked his sister's hair, said, "Come on. Tell me. I can't fix it if you don't tell me."

Swallowing, Alex licked her lips, screwed her eyes shut, and then said the words she'd been wanting to say for days: "Justin… please don't go. I need you here. Please."

_I can be so mean when I wanna be_

_I am capable of really anything_

_I can cut you into pieces_

_But my heart is broken_

_Please don't leave me_

_Please don't leave me_

_I always say how I don't need you_

_But it's always gonna come right back to this_

_Please, don't leave me_

- Pink, "Please Don't Leave Me"


	3. Chapter 3

Justin stroked his sister's head with his right hand, letting the tips of his fingers run through her hair. "Alex - you know I have to go," he started, and she raised a fist, thumped him in the shoulder.

"No! You don't have to! You said you'd never leave me! You _promised_!"

"I'm not leaving you - not like that. I'll visit, and you can visit me, and -"

She thumped him again, harder this time, and her voice came out as a growl. "You visit people you've _left_, Justin! If you didn't leave them, you wouldn't have to _visit_!" Alex took a step back then, shaking her shoulders to pull out of Justin's arms, then glared up at him, clenching her fists. "I hate you! Why do you have to be so... so... so damn _good_ all the time? The whole world doesn't rely on you, you know!" she called out, putting her hands up in the air and shaking them.

Suddenly, Justin moved forward and put his arms around Alex, hugged her hard, then stepped back, pulling her with him, sitting on his bed with her in his lap. "Alex - calm down. You're going to wake up Mom and Dad!"

Trying to pull away, Alex hit him in the chest, her whole forearm hitting him there. "Let me go!"

"No," he said, and held on tighter, shifted his left arm free and grabbed Alex by the chin, forced her to look at him. She still struggled, hitting him again, and Justin rolled over, wound up with Alex pinned under him on his bed, his hands on her forearms. She tried to kick at him, but he was too heavy on her, and after a moment, she stopped, simply glared up at him.

"Alex, if I could stay here, I would. Believe me, I don't _want_ to leave. And I _will _visit, and if you need me for something, I'm just a phone call away. But I need you to understand: I have to do this." He paused a moment, licked his lips as he looked down into Alex's softening brown eyes. She blinked, and he said, "Please."

And then she was crying again, and Justin pulled her close, rocked slowly side-to-side with her under him. "It's okay," he murmured, stroking her hair. "Alex... you're my little sister, and I love you. I'm not leaving you forever. Just for a little while. I need to start now while I can, but... we've got the competition in six months, and if I win, then I won't need to go to med school, and..."

He paused then, wanting to say he'd move back, but he couldn't say it, not honestly. He didn't know how he'd feel about moving back then - he might still want to have his own place, he didn't know for sure, and -

"Justin? Can you move?" Alex asked then. "You're kind of heavy."

"Oh! Sorry." He moved off her, moving to the side, but Alex rolled as he did, put her own arms around him.

"Don't move away. Just... don't be on top of me. Okay?" Her face was right in front of his, looking back into his eyes, and Justin swallowed as she moved, suddenly uncomfortably aware of how her body fit against his.

He nodded slowly, afraid to say anything, and for a few seconds, they were silent. Justin reached behind him, not turning over, not taking his eyes from hers, found the box of Kleenex on his bedside table and pulled a few out, then began to wipe slowly at Alex's face. He expected her to stop him, to take the tissues away and do it herself - but she didn't.

Instead, she simply stared at her brother as he gently wiped her face. They'd never turned a light on all the time she'd been in there, but the night-light was glowing, and it was enough for her to see him - to see the worry that was written on his face, to know that he'd be tossing things over in his head, thinking now about whether he should leave or not.

And she knew what he would decide. Justin was good at doing the proper thing, the expected thing. He'd still go, but now it would tear at him, and he'd be hurting, and it would be her fault - and she didn't want to hurt him, not really, but she needed him... and Alex Russo was never, never good at doing what was proper, or expected.

So she brought her hand onto Justin's wrist, pulled the hand that was wiping her face away... and then she kissed him.

_Jenny kissed me when we met,_

_Jumping from the chair she sat in;_

_Time, you thief! who love to get_

_Sweets into your list, put that in._

_Say I'm weary, say I'm sad;_

_Say that health and wealth have miss'd me;_

_Say I'm growing old, but add-_

_Jenny kiss'd me._

_- _Leigh Hunt_, "Jenny Kissed Me"_


	4. Chapter 4

Alex was surprised at how soft Justin's lips felt against hers - and then even more surprised when his arms tightened around her and he returned the kiss, his lips suddenly feeling less soft as he began to play them against hers, one hand sliding up her back to grip her neck as he did.

Then she was surprised again as Justin stiffened, then started to pull away. Alex moved faster than he did, though, putting a hand on Justin's shoulder and pushing him onto his back, then moving onto him. She kissed him again, felt his lips start to react, then pouted as he twisted his head to the side, breaking the kiss.

"Alex - we can't do this -" Ignoring his words, she moved and kissed him a third time, grabbing him by the back of the head, trying as hard as she could to hold on. Justin tried to pull back, but Alex was determined, and his efforts weren't strong enough.

And perhaps he didn't really _want_ to pull away - or so Alex hoped, a hope driven on by how he'd returned her kiss in those first moments. He protested again, or rather, tried to, an effort that was stifled as Alex slid her tongue into her brother's open mouth, blocking him.

Her tongue touched his, and suddenly Justin's resistance ceased, and his arms moved around Alex, pulled her close against him. Alex sighed into the kiss as their tongues danced together, and her body molded against his - his body that felt new and unfamiliar, but at the same time comfortable and so... _right_.

Justin's fingers stroked through her hair, and where they touched, her skin tingled. She sighed again, a sound that this time was almost a moan, and Justin's mouth moved from hers, releasing the sound. She panicked then, for just an instant, afraid he was trying to pull away again, but then she felt his lips on her throat, kissing her there, and she smiled, then breathed out his name.

At that, he moved up again, looked into his sister's eyes, licked his lips. "Alex," he breathed out, and the sound of her name on his lips was heaven at that moment. His voice was no more than a whisper. "Alex… I'm sorry. I can't do this. Not now, not like this."

"What?" She blinked and frowned, looking back into Justin's eyes. "What do you -"

She cut off as Justin ran his fingers through her hair again. "I… Alex, I know you think you want this, but… you're just worried about missing me. You don't really -"

Alex growled and hit him then, punching him hard in the shoulder. "Don't try to tell me what I do and don't really feel! Dammit, Justin -"

He moved to her again and hugged her hard. Alex struggled, but this time Justin was ready for her, and was able to hold onto her in spite of how she squirmed and hit him. "Let me _go_!"

"No," he said, not loudly, but firmly and clearly. "Alex - if you want to stay here with me, I'll let you. But we are not doing anything but sleeping, because I can't let you do something you're going to regret later. Do you understand me?"

She kept struggling for a few moments, then gradually stopped, her struggles growing less and less until she was simply laying there in her brother's arms, letting him hold her. "I…" She paused, swallowed, then hugged him hard, said, "Thank you." Stretching her neck up, Alex kissed him again, but this time on the cheek.

"You're welcome." Justin stroked her hair, his expression unreadable as he looked at her. They stayed that way, looking at each other, and later on, neither was sure who fell asleep first.

* * *

><p>Three and a half hours later, at the security checkpoint, Alex hung back while everyone else hugged Justin. She bit her lip a little, frowning as she watched Mom hug him for the fifth time in ten minutes, tears running down her cheeks, saying something barely intelligible about how she couldn't believe her little boy was grown up and leaving. "He's leaving, yeah," Alex said automatically. "I'm not going to believe the grown-up part until he stops sleeping with a night-light."<p>

Justin smiled at her, reached out a hand and grabbed Alex's wrist. "I love you too," he said, and Alex blinked, then blinked again as she felt tears trying to start. Part of her wanted to say it, but she couldn't, not like this, not in front of everyone, because if she did, she wasn't going to be able to hold back these tears any longer.

Instead, she rolled her eyes and tossed her hair. "There you go, acting like a girl again. Next thing you'll be crying like Mom."

Theresa frowned at that, but Justin simply kept smiling as he shook his head a little. He glanced over to the side, at the status board on the wall. "Well… time for me to go. I'll call you when we land." He turned to go, and Alex frowned a little.

_He's not just going to go. He's going to hug me first._ She stood, waiting, as Justin moved into the security line, then frowned as he turned and waved at the four of them. _He's not going to go like this. Any second, he's going to break out of the line, come back over here, tell us he's changed his mind. Or at least he'll come over and hug me, one last time before he goes, and then he'll say something stupid about saving the best for last, or how if I won't admit that I need a hug, he'll just give me one, and…._

And then he was the next in line, showing his ID to the security guy in the blue shirt and black tie, and now had to be the moment, the one he'd turn around and come back to her, because he couldn't leave her, not really. He turned his head and looked back at them, and his eyes met hers, and Alex wasn't sure how it happened, but she was pushing past the people in the line, and then she was wrapping her arms around Justin, clinging to him, and somewhere behind her, their mom was saying something to Dad about how she knew this was going to happen, and the TSA guy was saying something too, about not holding up the line, but Alex didn't care about any of it, didn't care about anything except Justin's arms around her, his breath on her ear. "It's okay, Alex. I'll miss you too. It's okay."

* * *

><p><em>Close your eyes, give me your hand<em>

_Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand?_

_Do you feel the same, am I only dreaming_

_Or is this burning an eternal flame?_

- The Bangles, "_Eternal Flame_"


	5. Chapter 5

It was midnight, and Alex was laying in the dark, slowly tracing circles on the sheets of her bed. She sighed, stretched out for a moment, then rolled onto her back, pulled up the neck of the shirt she'd put on to sleep in- one of Justin's old Tears of Blood t-shirts - and sighed again.

"Wait," she said then, aloud. "What am I doing? I'm acting like I'm that girl from Twilight or something, moping around!" She rolled over, picked up her phone from the nightstand, tapped it a couple of times, then held it to her ear.

_Come on, Justin. It's only nine there. It's been three days, surely you're sleeping on California time by now._ Surely he wasn't doing his stupid early bedtime thing - he didn't even have classes until the next week. _He's not out at a party or something. He's not the type for parties. And who would invite him to one anyway?_

"Hi." Alex smiled and opened her mouth, then closed it and grimaced. "I'm not able to answer the phone right now, so -" She hung up on the voice mail, then turned her phone sideways and slid out the keyboard.

_Missing u call me_

She frowned, shook her head, backspaced.

_Not missing u, dorkface_

Smiling, Alex looked at it for a moment, then nodded and sent it. If he wasn't picking up the phone, he wouldn't reply quickly… but just in case, she set the phone down on the bed beside her, in easy reach. _Now what? Mope more? No, that's not happening._ Alex sighed again, her mouth twisting, and then she smiled. _Yeah… yeah, that's an idea._

It took Alex a little while to find what she was looking for, but half an hour later, she was back in her bed, brushing the last of the dust off the dream helmet. She set her alarm - _Hate that, but don't want Mom or Dad to come in and find me wearing this_ - arranged her pillows, put the helmet on, then lay back down and closed her eyes. _All right. Let's see what Justin's dreaming about._

* * *

><p>At the same time in San Francisco, Justin was laying in bed, his sheets (<em>not<em> his Captain Jim-Bob sheets - those had been carefully stored where he could be more sure they would not be subjected to any sort of accidental spill, fire, or scissors) rumpled around him. The house he'd been placed in had five bedrooms, one of which he was sharing with someone who hadn't arrived yet.

Someone walking into the room would have immediately noticed that it was half decorated, Justin having scrupulously kept to 'his half' of the room in placing what he'd brought. Being who he was, he'd already unpacked and carefully placed everything he'd brought. In his dreams, however, Justin was not in his new, pristine bedroom, but somewhere else….

* * *

><p>Alex found herself laying on a narrow stone shelf in a room likewise made of stone, a thin pallet that didn't really manage to provide any padding under her. She sat up and swung her feet down to the floor - also stone - then frowned as she saw the door.<p>

It was rough-looking wood, visibly stained in places, with an opening about the size and shape of a mail slot put around eye level. There was no handle on this side. Craning her neck to look around, she saw that the rest of the cell - for that was what it seemed to be - matched, with one high, narrow, barred window letting in some light through the stone walls. At the end of the bed-shelf was a plate with a few bones that must have been from the last meal she'd had, and in one corner was a small pot. Considering the only purpose that sprung to mind for that pot, Alex elected not to investigate its contents, but instead stood and walked toward the door.

As she did, she heard an odd sound from around her feet. Looking down, Alex discovered that she was trailing a chain behind her, fastened at one end to what looked like an oversized staple in the floor, and at the other to a ring around her ankle. She had to lift her skirts to make the latter discovery - and skirts was the proper term, for there were two layers of them, the top being a green material that felt like silk, the bottom some fine white cloth - linen, maybe?

The top skirt was part of a full dress, cut to her shape and belted at her waist, with shoulder-baring sleeves that were puffy on top, then tight down to her wrists. _Okay, so, some kind of Dungeons & Gargoyles thing. With me as a captured princess, I guess? Well, the heck with that..._

Alex went for her wand, reaching for its normal location in her boot - but she wasn't wearing any boots, and there didn't seem to be a wand there either. Annoyed, she walked over to the door, then beat on it with her fist. "Hey! Guard-type-person! I'm sure you're out there! Come here!"

This didn't produce an immediate result, and Alex hammered on the door and yelled again, fuming as she did. _What the Hell good is it to be in Justin's dream if he's somewhere else in it? What is this?_

She beat the door a third time, giving it a series of rapid blows. Her fist was getting a little sore, but, Alex being Alex, this just drove her to hit it harder and yell louder. "Hey! Turnkey! Isn't that what they call you guys in these things? Come down here and talk to me!"

A pair of eyes appeared at the slit, then, and Alex cut off as she saw them. They weren't human eyes. For one thing, they were yellow. For another, they didn't have any white in them at all - just iris and pupil. Last, but hardly least, the face they were in had dark green skin, highlighted in places with a lighter green where scars were visible. Thick black brows overhung the eyes, and although she couldn't see the mouth, Alex was quite willing to bet that it would have fangs.

"Quiet down, you," a deep voice rumbled. "You may be used to people bowing and scraping to you, princess, but nobody's going to do it here."

The thing's appearance had scared Alex just a little, but its attitude triggered a different reaction. Crossing her arms, she tilted her head to the side, sneering dismissively as she did. "Well, I suppose it's no matter anyway." _What? Why am I talking like that? Must be something to do with the dream..._ "You're obviously not intelligent enough to answer any questions. I suppose I'll just have to wait for whoever's really in charge here."

She turned to go back to her bed, then smiled as the creature protested. "Hey! _I'm _the one in charge here, princess! You got questions, you ask _me_!"

Turning back around, Alex put on a doubtful expression. "Really? Well, I suppose you might be able to answer _simple_ questions. Let's start with a very simple one: where am I?"

"You're in the dungeons of the Wizard Kralldemar's tower... awaiting his pleasure." The thing's expression slid into a leer as it finished.

She nodded as if she'd already known that. "Yes." Alex moved a hand up to brush at her hair, tried not to show her surprise as her hand brushed against a big conical hat. _Of course. Goes with the princess thing. I should have known._ "And of course, someone as well-informed as you knows who his prisoner is?"

He frowned, eyes narrowing as if he thought this might be some sort of trick, but nodded. "You're the Princess Alexandra."

Alex nodded again, smiling a little now. "And I'm sure Prince Justin is going to be on his way to rescue me."

The guard-thing gave her a puzzled look, then narrowed his eyes. "You trying to trick me? There's no Prince Justin. Everybody knows you're betrothed to the Prince Mason."

"Wait... what? But there's a Justin, right... a wizard, maybe? Or..." She frowned and bit her lip, wishing she'd paid more attention to Justin's Dungeons & Gargoyles games. "Or a... a palindrome?"

"A what?"

"A palindrome. You know... like a holy knight? Rides around on a big white horse wearing armor and smiting evil?"

"Oh, you mean a _paladin_. Nope. Never heard of a wizard named Justin, nor a paladin neither."

Blinking in surprise, Alex sat down hard on her bed. She didn't even notice as the creature turned and walked away from the door. _No Justin? But... did the dream helmet not work right? Am I _not_ in Justin's dreams? And if not, where am I?_


	6. Chapter 6

The bells rang midnight, and Alex was still in her cell, deep in the dungeons of the Wizard Kralldemar. _Whoever he is_, she thought with a twist of her mouth. _And if Mason's coming to rescue me, shouldn't he be here by now?_

Then again, she had to admit that while Mason was strong and tough when he was a werewolf, he wasn't exactly the brightest of boys. _You'd think someone who's lived hundreds of years would be more clueful, but..._

"Okay," she said aloud. "I guess I'm going to have to rescue myself. So... what's in this cell that can help me out?" She stood up as she said that, then turned around slowly, looking about the room. Stone floor. Stone walls. Pallet, made of some kind of woven reeds or something. Plate, with chicken bones. Chamber pot, with yuck. Wooden door, with small slot. Small window, too high to reach, with bars. So much for the room. As for her...

Alex looked down and considered the dress she was in. The top layer was green silk, and silk was supposed to be strong. She took hold of the skirt in both hands and pulled as hard as she could, and the fabric certainly seemed strong to her, but she wasn't sure what she could do with it. The window didn't look big enough for her to get out through, even if she could bend the bars somehow. And she certainly wasn't going to be fitting through the slot in the door.

Taking off her hat, she considered it. Looking inside, the cone was made of some kind of cardboard or heavy paper, covered with the same silk as the dress, and with a pair of lacy streamers or veils hanging from it. _Nothing useful there either. Well. No wonder I haven't broken out of here already._

She sat back down and sighed, making little figure-eights on her skirt with one fingertip, then suddenly sat up straight. _Wait… what am I doing? This is a dream. I should be able to change things, if I want._

Standing up again, Alex concentrated, imagining her wand - the look of it, the way it felt in her hand. It should be right there, the grip against her palm. It should be - but it still wasn't. Frowning, she shook her hand, frowned and bit her lip as she tried harder, but still, nothing appeared.

_What the heck? When I used the helmet to get into Dean's dreams, I could rearrange things, make what I wanted. What's going on here?_ Angry now, she strode over to the door, stuck her hand against it, closed her eyes and imagined it opening at her push. She pushed, then shoved, then leaned against it with her full weight - but still, it didn't budge. _What's the use of being a wizard if I can't even make anything happen?_

Alex lashed out with a kick at the door - then let out a little 'Ah!' as the door swung open on its own, leaving her kicking empty air. She almost fell over, but managed to catch herself on the door frame, blinking as she did. _Great timing, magic. Thanks_, she started to think, then stifled the thought as she saw that the door hadn't simply opened on its own.

It had been opened by a guard - the same sort of creature as before, but not the exact same one. This one seemed a little shorter, and the scars on its face weren't the same - and when it spoke, its voice wasn't quite as deep as the one from before. "Get on yer feet," the thing said. "The wizard wants ta see yeh, Princess." He gave her a look that Alex was pretty sure was supposed to be a leer, and she side-stepped to move out of his way as he approached, letting him into the cell.

When she stepped aside, though, he turned, took another step toward her. She stepped back, angling her step as she did, and then he stopped and growled. "Quit yer movin'! How'm I gonna take the chain off'n yer ankle if yeh keep doin' that?"

She blinked and looked down. After hours of having the chain on her, she'd completely forgotten about it, and now she frowned at it for a moment, then nodded to the guard. He approached her, then kneeled down on one knee, stuck a hand out and grabbed the leg the chain was on. Instinctively, Alex tried to pull away, but his grip was firm, and he looked up at her. "Don't yeh get any ideas. Gnasher wouldna like it."

The guard tilted his head toward the door, and Alex looked. There, standing in the doorway, was an animal that looked like a dog... if a dog could live and move without fur or skin. Bare muscles and tendons stuck out, laced with red and blue blood vessels, like an anatomy textbook drawing come to life. The head was the worst - the beast had no ear flaps, no velvety doggy nose - and worst of all, it had no lips, leaving its fangs constantly bared.

Alex felt certain that she couldn't outrun the beast, and even more certain that she did not want to try. The guard grinned as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, and nodded. "Now, lift yer skirt a bit." As he said that, he reached into a pouch on his belt and produced a ring of keys. Grimacing, Alex pulled her skirts up a few inches, then watched as the guard unlocked her shackle and set it aside.

He let go of her ankle to stand up - and as soon as he did, Alex leaped into motion, sprinting for the door, but instead of trying to run out, where the dog-thing was already lowering its front end to prepare to spring, she slammed the door shut, then turned around, her back against it.

"Naughty, princess," the guard said, shaking his head and looking at her as he walked slowly toward her. Alex heard claws scrabbling on wood on the other side of the door, but she didn't feel any force on her back, and almost sighed in relief that the door had locked automatically, as she'd hoped it would. "That's nah gonna get yeh anywhere. Even if yeh could beat me - which yeh can't - Gnasher'll still be waitin' out there. 'N believe me, yer highness, yer pretty dress won't be so pretty after 'es done with yeh, 'n yer skin might not be neither."

He stopped a few feet from her, his hand open and ready to grab for the club that was his weapon, looking at her.

"Okay, honestly - what is with that accent?" Alex shook her head a little at the guard, giving him a 'what the hell?' look as she did. "Is it supposed to sound Scottish or something? Because I've never heard of any orcs or whatever you are living in Scotland."

The guard's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Your accent." Alex spoke slowly, as if talking to a child or an idiot. "It sounds stupid. I'm pretty sure that no one really talks like that, outside of the cheap romance novels my Mom reads."

She paused, and the guard licked his lips with a flat grey tongue, then opened his mouth. "I din-"

"So help me," Alex interrupted, "if you say you 'dinnae ken' what I'm saying, I will take your helmet off your head and beat with you it."

There was another moment's pause, and then the guard made another leering grin and slowly said, "I dinnae ken what yer sayin', lassie."

Alex stared at the guard for a moment, her eyes narrowed, then shook her head and threw up her hands. "All right. You win. Take me wherever it is you're taking me."

The guard grinned more, then started toward the door, reaching into his pouch and drawing out the ring of keys again. Alex stepped to the side, her shoulders slumping down in defeat, and the guard selected a key, put it into the lock, and then fell down as Alex suddenly grabbed his helmet, pulled it off his head, and brained him with it hard enough to dent it.

"I warned yeh, but yeh wouldna listen." A moment later, Alex had the guard's club, his key ring, and, just for good measure, the pouch full of little gold and silver coins he'd had. _Hey, you never know when money will come in handy._ Hefting the club and readying herself, she unlocked the door of her cell, then kicked it open, hoping to surprise the dog-thing… only to find herself face-to-face with four more of the guards, and two of the beasts.

Lowering the club quickly, she smiled, then lifted the other guard's money pouch and dangled it before them. "I don't suppose a bribe would help?"

* * *

><p><em>Well, apparently they're under some pretty strict orders not to actually hurt me. Good for me, not so good for them.<em> They'd bound her hands after her little stunt, and now had her going up the tower stairs, two of the guards ahead of her, two behind, with the dog-things at her sides. They'd gone up five stories, were climbing the stairs to a sixth, making Alex wonder just how tall this tower was. _At least dream-me seems to be used to stairs. My legs should feel like they're burning, but they don't._

As they reached the landing for the sixth floor, the two guards ahead of Alex stepped off to the side, then stopped. Alex stopped as well, looking around. There were stairs continuing up, but there was a door as well - wooden, but much more finely made than the one that had been in the cell. This one was a dark, rich looking wood, with a delicately branching design of many curves painted on it in gold.

"All right. Go on in." That was one of the guards behind her. Alex turned for a moment, looked at him.

"What's in there?"

"Kralldemar. He wants to talk to you. Again."

Alex frowned, then nodded toward the door. "Okay, then... open it so I can go in." She waggled her tied hands behind her back. "I can't."

"What, did you get stupid all of a sudden or something? Just walk in, the door'll open, like it always does." He gave her a push on the shoulder, forcing Alex to step forward or fall over. As she stepped, the door did indeed swing open on it's own, and Alex quickly walked through, not wanting to give the guards another excuse.

The room she stepped into was a sharp contrast to what she'd seen of the tower so far. Rich, bright tapestries hung on the walls, displaying forest scenes. The largest, on her left, showed a unicorn laying its head in a girl's lap. To her right, there were two large windows, both with actual glass. Rugs of burgundy and gold covered the floor, and chairs and small tables were scattered about, books placed on them as if this were the medieval version of a doctor's waiting room.

A doorway on the far side of the room was hung with a bead curtain, and a Alex saw a shape approaching on the other side, then a hand came through, parting it. The hand was followed by an arm, in the sleeve of a blue robe, and that by a man who had to be Kralldemar - and Alex's jaw dropped as she saw that Kralldemar was her brother Justin!

* * *

><p><em>You dreamed of heroes<em>

_riding across the sea_

_in shining armor_

_but all you had was me._

_While all the time you never knew_

_all I could do is dream of you_

_and still I do today._

- John Kincaid, "Dreams Are Ten a Penny"


	7. Chapter 7

"Ah, Princess." The voice was Justin's as well, but with a bad-guy British accent added. _At least, I think that's British. That's where they have a Queen, isn't it_?

He was still speaking, walking toward her, his hands moving behind his back as he did. "Are you ready to listen to reason now? Or must I have my guards return you to the dungeon?" She expected him to stop a few feet away from her, but he didn't. Instead, Justin changed his course and began to walk around Alex, circling her.

She frowned and turned, trying to keep facing him. "Justin!" she said - or rather, tried to say, for the name that escaped her lips was "Kralldemar." Blinking, she tried again - and again "Kralldemar" was what came out. Alex shook her head quickly, and Justin raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, looking at her.

"That is indeed my name. Do you have more to say, Princess, or do you merely enjoy the sound of it?"

"What have you done to me? Why can't I say what I wish?" That came out more or less the way she intended it to, at least.

"I am _doing_ the same thing I have been for the past week, your highness - keeping you safe."

She tried, 'Okay, pretend I'm in the slow class, then, dork' - "Very well," she heard herself say, "Let us play that I am in need of instruction, sirrah." Gritting her teeth, she added, "And pray, cease this circling before I am dizzied!"

Justin frowned at that, but he did stop, then turned to face Alex. For a moment, he simply continued to frown, but then he bowed his head. "As you wish, your highness. I have kidnapped you to protect you. I have done this because your fiancé, the Prince Mason, is not what he appears to be." Raising his head, Justin looked into Alex's eyes. "He is a monster, and he intends to kill and devour you upon your wedding night."

"_What_?" Alex blinked at Justin in disbelief, her mouth hanging open for a moment. "Justin! Come on! Mason wouldn't…." She stopped then, suddenly realizing two things: First, that Justin's mouth was hanging open and he was staring at her as if she'd suddenly grown another head. Second, that the words she'd wanted to say had actually come out this time - she'd said 'Justin', not 'Kralldemar'.

"_Alex_?" Justin blinked at her twice, shook his head, then put his hands up between them. "No - this can't be - Alex, you're not supposed to -"

She grabbed for his wrists - but he was somehow too far away, and Alex couldn't reach him. "Justin!" she called out, running toward him, but he was getting farther and farther away, and everything around her was melting away…..

* * *

><p>Alex opened her eyes, then immediately moaned and closed them again. This was fairly normal for her when she woke up before noon, but this time, she reached and rubbed her temples. "Oh, <em>ow<em>. I don't remember the dream helmet giving me a headache like this. What the heck was with that?"

There was no answer, of course, since no one else was there. Alex lifted the helmet off her head carefully, set it aside, then reached for her phone. "Well, if I got kicked out of his dreams, then Justin must be awake at least," she muttered as she hit the redial. As she waited, Alex started to bob her head from side to side, then stopped and grimaced as it made her head hurt again.

"Hi."

Alex opened her mouth to say hi as well, then closed it again. "I'm not able to answer the phone right now, so please leave a message after the tone." _ Wow. Way to go on the generic message, Justin_. Aloud, she said, "Answer your phone, dork. You don't want me to have to come out there after you."

She paused a second, thinking about saying more. _ Like what? 'I miss you'? Or, 'I'm worried about you'? _ She bit her lip, thinking about it, but then there was a beep as the time ran out.

_Well, I guess that'll have to be enough. C'mon, this is Justin. He'll call. If he left an "missed call" message on his phone for more than ten minutes, he'd freak._

* * *

><p>Three thousand miles away, Justin Russo was holding his phone in his hand, staring at the message, "One Missed Call: Alex". A few moments later, that vanished, to be replaced with "Voicemail: Alex". Knowing Alex as he did, Justin was sure that the voice message would consist merely of the click of her hanging up.<p>

_So, that was really her in my dream. Too big of a coincidence for her to call right after I dream about her. _ Justin didn't believe in coincidence anyway - not where Alex was involved. _Well, as dreams about her go, that one wasn't _too_ bad. Still, I'm sure she's weirded out by it, and wants an explanation_.

Justin's mouth twisted and he sighed a little. He certainly wasn't ready to give her an explanation, and knowing Alex... _ I've got maybe five minutes before my ever-impatient sister has had enough of waiting. Then she'll call again, and if I don't answer, she'll teleport out here. Assuming she doesn't just skip straight to the teleporting._

The conclusion was inescapable, and even as he was thinking, Justin was already in motion. He dressed quickly, leaving his phone on the bed, then left his room, heading down toward the bulletin board on the first floor. _ I need to find a party or something. Somewhere with lots of people. Make it harder for her to find me_.

* * *

><p>It was just over five minutes after her first call that Alex picked up the phone again, hit redial, then waited. As soon as she heard the "I'm not," she hung up, then stood up off her bed and grabbed her wand from her desk (knocking over a pair of Coke cans as she did). Stepping over in front of the mirror, she frowned at herself. <em>Can't let Justin's roommate see me like this<em>, she told herself, then waved the wand once. Light shimmered across her, and Alex smiled at herself in the mirror. Knee-length layered skirt, black stockings, and boots had replaced the pajama pants she'd been wearing, and her hair had been brushed out and a little grey-and-black cap added. She'd left Justin's ToB shirt on her, but a quick spell had reshaped it into a babydoll tee, fitting her quite nicely. To finish things off, she'd added a peace symbol necklace, and a black long-sleeved shirt under the babydoll.

With that accomplished, Alex waved her wand again, saying, "_Justin's not calling me like he should, take me to his room to give it to him good._" With another flash of light, she was there, and she immediately opened her mouth to lay into him, then closed it again as she saw he wasn't there.

_Okay, what the aitch_? Alex could see Justin's phone, sitting there on the night table by his bed - and with those sheets, it had to be his bed, even leaving out the fact that the other bed had just a bare mattress. _ He never forgets his phone. Which means he left it here deliberately, which means he's trying to avoid me. Well, he's going to find out that that's not easy to do_. She tapped the tip of her wand against her chin twice, then nodded. A few quick wand waves, and she had a map of the campus area, with Justin's current position helpfully marked on it. Smiling to herself, she went out his door.

_If you're not the one then_

_why does my soul feel glad today?_

_If you're not the one then_

_why does my hand fit yours this way?_

_If you are not mine then_

_why does your heart return my call?_

_If you are not mine would_

_I have the strength to stand at all?_

- "If You Are Not the One", by Daniel Bedingfiel


	8. Chapter 8

The sofa was old, with stains of dubious origin and a faint smell that Justin found himself somewhat grateful he wasn't able to identify. It - and he - sat in a dim corner of what had once been an attic, but was now apparently the designated 'party room' of the...

Well, honestly, Justin wasn't sure what house this was, and at the moment, he was okay with that. So long as the location kept him away from Alex right now, it was good. _And even if she finds this place, she'll have to get in. And even if she gets in, she'll have to find me among the crowd here._

And it was quite a crowd, Justin had to admit. There were at least forty people up here. _Which is probably more than the fire marshal would approve. Normally, I wouldn't stay here, but... _Shrugging to himself, Justin shook his head a little, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly, smiling with one side of his mouth. _Of course, normally, I wouldn't be anywhere near a party like this. This'd be more Alex's -_

His smile dropped, and Justin closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. _All right. I need to think about something else. I don't need this stress when I'm about to start classes Monday. Med school's going to be hard enough without any extra distractions. _

"Hi. This private seating, or can anyone sit here?"

Justin looked up at the voice, then blinked. It was a girl - a blonde with a cute face, smiling at him. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she was wearing a frilly purple top and jeans. "Oh, uh, sure. You can sit here." He scooted a little to the left as he said it, trying to give her more room. She didn't really seem interested in having space, though, as she sat down right in the middle of the couch, turned partway on her side so she was still looking at him.

"I'm Denise," she said, holding out a hand. "Are you thinking about pledging tri-Lamb?"

A 'What?' nearly escaped as Justin opened his mouth, then realized just in time that that must be the frat whose house this was. "No," he said, and immediately wished he'd lied as Denise frowned deeply. "I'm not here mooching," he added quickly, holding up a hand. "Scouts' honor. I'm trying to avoid someone, and she knows where my dorm room is, so I wanted to go somewhere that she'd never expect me to be. So, here."

Justin ended with a circular gesture, encompassing the frat house around them, combining that with an apologetic smile and shrug. To his relief, Denise's frown smoothed out, replaced by a little smile and a nod. "So, crazy ex, huh? I've had one of those. Good luck with the avoiding thing." She paused, tilting her head a little. "Well, if she'd never expect to find you here, what kind of things _do_ you like to do?"

"I'm more geek than frat guy, I'm afraid. I -"

"Afraid?" Denise tilted her head and quirked an off-center smile. "Why are you afraid of that? And what makes you think frat guys and geeks are mutually exclusive?"

"Well, you know - I'm not really the party type. I like quiet, I like to read -"

"Stop right there," Denise interrupted, putting a finger to Justin's lips to stop him. "You didn't get invited to any parties in high school, right?" He nodded slowly, a wary look on his face, and Denise smiled more. "So how do you know you're not the party type? Are you just jumping to a conclusion based on what you've seen in movies?"

"I... I suppose I am," Justin allowed, but he quickly added, "But I know I don't like crowds, and as I said, I like quiet. Parties -"

"There are parties and there are parties," Denise said, sliding a little closer. "Do you think you'd like to party with _me_?"

Justin's eyes widened, and he tried automatically to move further into the corner of the sofa. "Uhh..." _Hot girl, hitting on me. This doesn't happen - unless she's crazy. _"You mean, like, dance? I could -"

"I don't _think_ so. Sorry, blondie, but he's going to be busy tonight." Justin started, not having noticed Alex approaching at all. Denise did as well, but then stood up and tilted her head, looked at Alex for a moment, then down at Justin, who was holding on to the sofa's back and armrest with white knuckles, eyes darting left and right as he tried to figure out which way would give him a better chance of making it past Alex.

"What are you doing trying to avoid me?" Alex asked, shaking her head. "Seriously, you can not think that after the dream I just had, you can go running off -"

"Oh, so _you_ must be the crazy ex-girlfriend." Denise tilted her head to the side and looked Alex up and down. "I'm Denise, and I'm afraid Justin and I are getting to -"

"Wait, what?" Alex shook her head again, blinking at Justin this time as she did. "You're telling people I'm your _ex_?"

"Uhh…." Justin's brow creased as he tried to remember exactly what he'd been saying to Denise. "I don't think I actually said that -"

"But it should be fucking obvious. He's avoiding you," Denise put in, crossing her arms and grinning just a little. "Look, girl - maybe you're not bright enough to read the writing on the wall, but when your man doesn't want to be around you, you've lost him."

"Hey, hey, whoa." Justin half-stood, putting one foot on the floor and one knee on the couch as he slid between the two girls, holding a hand out at each. "Let's just -"

Alex grabbed the wrist he'd extended toward her and took a step back, pulling her with him. "Come on, Justin. We need to talk. And _your_ input isn't wanted," she added, throwing a quick glare at Denise.

"I don't think you're going anywhere with him," Denise countered, grabbing Justin by his other wrist. "I'm pretty sure you're not here to try to pledge tri-Lamb," she went on. "And I _know_ you're not one of my sorority sisters, so why don't you just get your unwanted ass out of here, before I -"

"Blondie," Alex said with a smile that was in no way either friendly or happy, "you seriously do _not_ want to mess with me right now."

"Please," Justin tried again, "everybody just calm down for a moment -"

Ignoring that, Denise smirked at Alex, raised her free hand, then gave Alex a hard push on one shoulder. "Yeah? I don't want to mess with you? What're you going to do?"

A quick, gleeful grin went across Alex's face at that, and Justin gritted his teeth. He knew that expression all too well, and he was quite certain that he didn't want to know what Alex had in mind. "Alex," he tried, speaking quickly, but it was too late - his sister was already going.

"Oh my God!" she said, in a voice that Justin was certain was intended to carry throughout the room here. "Really?! When I won't go out with you, you decide you're going to make a play for my boyfriend? God, Denise! You are such a slut!"

Denise's eyes widened, and she quickly looked around the suddenly silent room. Every pair of eyes was looking at the three of them, and many people were leaning their heads together, whispering to each other.

Alex flashed a grin again, but Justin felt the way Denise's grip on his arm was tightening, saw her beginning to bare her teeth. "You fucking little _bitch!_" she cried out, suddenly lunging forward and making a grab for Alex's hair - but Justin moved into the way.

"Hey, hey! Don't - ahh!" Denise's fingernails caught Justin's ear, and he pushed in pure reaction, sending her sprawling down onto the ground. "Oh - oh, hell, I am so -" He started forward, reaching a hand out to try to help the girl back up - and then there was a hand on his shoulder, pulling him around. "Alex, cut it out!" he snapped, grimacing and slapping the hand away - and then he stopped as he saw that the hand did not, in fact, belong to Alex at all….

* * *

><p>"And stay out!" Justin felt himself swung back and then forward as the three guys who were carrying him threw him into the air. Gritting his teeth, he tried not to tense up, while at the same time wrapping his arms around his torso and tucking his head down. He hit the ground and rolled, turning over three or four times before he came to a stop, face down in the grass. <em>Glad they threw me on the lawn at least, instead of the driveway.<em>

He took inventory for a moment, was relieved to find that nothing was broken. _Well, I came out of that better than expected. Glad they decided to just toss me out instead of beating me up. And it _did _get me away from Alex. But it won't take her long to find me out here, so... _Taking in a deep breath, Justin pulled his hands in under his shoulders, then heaved himself up onto his knees.

And then Justin went right back down as he was tackled by what he was pretty sure was a black-haired whirlwind. "_There_ you are! You had me worried, taking on those big guys like that!"

"But not worried enough to actually try to _help_ me," Justin pointed out.

"Oh, please - interfere with your big moment saving me? I couldn't do that," Alex replied with a smile. "You were so cute, trying to come to my rescue like that. Even though I didn't need it at all."

"Really." Justin managed to sit up on the grass, which was easier said that done, since Alex was still clinging to him, her arms wrapped across his chest and waist, her head on his shoulder. "And what would you have done if I wasn't there?" He craned his neck to look at her as he asked.

"If you weren't there," Alex said slowly, as if speaking to a small child, "then I wouldn't have had to go there, and there wouldn't have been any problem at all."

Justin scowled. "You know what I mean -"

"And you know what I mean! Justin, why are you avoiding me? Did you think we could share a dream like that and I _wouldn't_ want to talk to you about it?"

"Yeah, about that - Alex, what the heck were you doing?" Justin turned, trying to face his sister to talk to her, but she moved with him, holding onto him. She didn't answer, but he was used to that, and he went on anyway. "Leaving aside the whole privacy issue for the moment - and I do mean for the moment, because we _are_ going to come back to that - don't you remember anything Dad taught us about the dream helmet?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Duh. I got into your dream, didn't I? _Obviously_ I still remember how to -"

"Of course you remember _how_," Justin snapped. "What you've forgotten is what you _always_ forget, which is why you _shouldn't_. The dream helmet's meant for use on normal people, not wizards - you could have gotten trapped in my dream, or -"

"But I didn't, did I? Besides, it was _your_ dream." This time, Alex moved, twisting around so she was in front of him now, almost sitting in his lap there on the frat house lawn. She looked into Justin's eyes and smiled. "Where could I be safer than with my big brother, who always takes care of me?"

She paused a moment, watching the expressions cross his face as he sought an argument to use against that. _I almost feel sorry for him. He knows he can't win against me, but he just keeps trying._ "You wouldn't hurt me, right?" she asked with a little smile, deliberately prodding him. "Not even in your dreams?"

Justin closed his eyes, swallowed, then nodded jerkily. "You know I woudn't. Alex, I -"

Smile growing, Alex lifted a finger to Justin's lips to stop him. "It's okay. Apology accepted. You don't have to say it."

"Wait, what?" Justin shook his head quickly, blinking. "Apology? Alex -"

She silenced him again, but this time with her mouth.

"Alex! We can't do this!" Justin said. Or rather, tried to say, since the moment he opened his mouth, Alex slid her tongue into it, rendering his statement into more of an "Mmmf!" He tried to get a hand between them and push her away - but with her pressed against him, all that accomplished was to get his hand onto her breast.

Seeming to take that as encouragement, Alex arched her back slightly, pressing her breast into his palm, her arms both wrapped around his neck. Still trying to break the kiss, Justin attempted to pull away, but with her arms where they were, all he managed was to overbalance and topple onto his back, with Alex coming down on top of him.

The impact when they hit the ground did break the kiss, however, and Justin turned his head to the side quickly. "Alex - stop it!" He tried to pull away again, scooting backward with his arms, but Alex stayed with him, using her knees to move her body forward, her arms still wrapped around his neck.

She made an odd sound, but it was mostly drowned out by a cry of "Get a room, already!" as a knot of people left the party. Blushing at that, Justin got his hands up against Alex's forearms and pushed, then made a strangled noise himself as she locked on with a death-grip, shaking her head against his neck.

And then suddenly, all the frustration and worry of the past few days boiled up, and Justin felt himself trembling for a moment, then put his arms on Alex's sides and surged to his feet, bringing her up with him. "Dammit, Alex!" he half-yelled, there on the frat house lawn, "Act your -" He paused half a moment, his mouth working, trying to get the word out, but even now, he couldn't make himself do it, and he started again. "Act your freaking age for once! You can't always have things your way! Other people get to -"

The sound came again, and Justin froze as it penetrated his brain just what that noise Alex was making was. She was sobbing. Alex, who almost never cried at anything, was sobbing into his neck, and now he could feel the wetness of her tears there, and it took all the anger out of him, leaving him standing with his mouth still moving, but no sound coming out.

There was another sob, and another, and Justin closed his eyes, squeezed them shut against the sudden urge to cry as well, and gently put his arms around his little sister, then hugged her tightly against his chest. "Hey, hey. It's okay. Don't cry. Please don't cry."

* * *

><p><em>Save me from all the trouble and the pain<em>

_I know I'm weak, but I can't face that girl again,_

_Tell her the reasons why I can't remain,_

_Perhaps she'll understand if you tell it to her plain._

- Don McLean, "Castles in the Air


	9. Chapter 9

"Alex... come on. We need to go somewhere we can talk." Justin stood slowly, keeping his arms around his sister, lifting her with all the delicacy of a man handling something both unspeakably fragile and of incalculable value. She huddled against him, keeping her face against his chest, not trying to rise with him, and after another couple of tries at getting her to stand, Justin let out a quiet sigh and hooked his left arm under Alex's legs, lifting her up in his arms. He took a moment to make sure he had a secure grip, then walked away from the tri-lamb house without a backward glance.

She hadn't behaved this way - silent and so visibly insecure - since they were little, and Justin kept glancing down at her. After a few minutes with no sign of her wanting to be let down, he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and gave Alex a gentle shake. "Hey. We need to talk. And I can't really do that well if I can't put you down."

Alex shook her head, her face still against his chest, and said something. Unfortunately, between her voice being muffled against his chest and inconvenient timing of a siren somewhere nearby, Justin had no clue what it was. "I didn't get that," he ventured, and this time, Alex lifted her face from his chest and looked up at him.

Her eyes were shiny, almost shimmering in the light from the nearby streetlight, and the flesh around them was puffy and reddened. Streaks of tears were down her cheeks, and her voice sounded thick. "I worked too hard to find you tonight. I'm not going to let you go. Not unless you swear that you're not going to try to get away from me."

Justin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I promise."

"That's not enough," she said, shaking her head. "You've promised me things before. You need to swear it." Frowning a little, Justin opened his mouth to say something, but Alex was faster. "Swear it by Captain Jim-Bob's honor."

"What?" He blinked and shook his head a little, looking at her in surprise. "But... you think Captain Jim-Bob is stupid."

"Yeah, I do," Alex said slowly, her eyes fixed on Justin's. "But _you_ don't. I need you to swear on something that will tell me you're really, truly serious."

There was a moment's silence as the two siblings looked at each other, and then Justin nodded once. "All right, then. I swear by Captain Jim-Bob's honor that I will not try to get away from you if you don't want me to tonight."

Alex's brow creased in a frown. "Tonight?"

"Surely you don't expect me to promise it for forever?"

She looked silently at him for a moment, then let out a small sigh. "I wish you would. But I guess it's good enough for now." Justin lowered his left arm, stooping a little to the side as he did, and set Alex's feet down on the sidewalk. She let go of him and turned away, bringing up her right arm to wipe at her face with her sleeve, suddenly self-conscious. She'd only made the first wipe when Justin's hand came over her shoulder, holding out a handkerchief.

Taking it, Alex resumed cleaning up her tear-streaked face. "Do you always carry... never mind, of _course_ you do." She made a few more dabs at her face, then dropped the handkerchief, turning back around as she did.

"Ah!" Justin grabbed quickly as it fluttered down, then shot Alex a look as he stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket. She answered it with her own look of wide-eyed innocence, but Justin knew her well enough to detect the tiny trace of a smile at the edges of her mouth. Shaking his head in annoyance, he took Alex by the hand and started down the sidewalk. Her hand gripped his firmly as she let herself be pulled along, letting her smile come out fully with Justin's face turned away.

* * *

><p>Some five minutes later, in a cozy little all-night coffee shop whose sign proclaimed it to be 'Jim's Coffee Corner', Justin sat down at a corner booth, setting his cup of tea carefully down on the red-flowered tablecloth. Alex bumped his elbow with her hip, and he looked up at her. She looked down, waiting for him to scoot in and make room for her on the same side. He didn't, and after a moment, she said, "You know, if you don't move in, I'm just going to sit on your lap."<p>

Knowing full well that Alex wasn't bluffing, Justin sighed slightly and slid over, moving as close to the pale blue wall as he could without pressing against it. Smiling happily, Alex sat down as well, then slid over until her thigh was pressed up against his, placing her cup next to his in such a way as to rub her right arm against his left. "Looks like you're trying to just sit in my lap anyway," Justin muttered.

"Ooh, can I?" Alex gave him another innocent look and lifted herself as if to do just that, causing Justin to half-stand, pressing hard against the wall.

"No!" he ground out, his voice low, tight, and insistent, eyes flickering about the shop to see if anyone was watching them. The slender black woman who'd taken their orders was leaning over the counter, hands to either side of the newspaper she was reading. A few tables away, a pair of college-aged women, both light brunettes, were deeply involved in their own conversation.

Alex let out a small laugh that was half snort. "You are _so_ easy to tweak." She moved back out a little then. "Come on - sit back down. I promise I won't assault your innocent body." Justin slowly sat back down, keeping his eyes on Alex as if expecting her to move back onto him at any moment, but she simply watched him with an amused smile.

"Well, I see you're feeling better," Justin said a bit grumpily.

Alex dipped her head, letting shiny black curls hide her face from her brother, but not so quickly that he didn't see her smile drop. A moment's silence passed. "Not really," she said, voice quiet, head still down. She picked up a spoon and stirred her coffee. "I..." Shaking her head, Alex broke off, and this time it was Justin who moved closer, putting an arm around his sister's waist and pulling her against him.

"Hey. Stop that. You're supposed to be the one who's always smiling and cheerful, remember? Never without a scheme to turn things around?"

"Yeah, well - that's when I know that you're going to be there to bail me out of whatever my scheme gets me into. And now you're not." Her face still hidden, Alex moved her left hand down and covered Justin's hand that was against her belly with it. "I miss you. A lot."

"I miss you too." Justin paused, looking at Alex, and took a deep breath. "Look... I understand. We've always been around each other. It feels really weird, not seeing you twenty times a day. But... it'll get better. We'll get used to it."

Alex picked up her cup, brought it to her lips, then set it back down as too hot to drink. She kept one finger through the handle though, moving it in a little circle against the smooth porcelain. "What if I don't want to get used to it?"

There was no answer from Justin, and Alex tightened her left hand on his, there against her belly. "I wake up missing you. I go to bed missing you. I miss sniping at you over breakfast. I miss you telling me I should eat better. I miss you telling me I need to study. I..." She stopped suddenly, taking her hand from the coffee cup and bringing it up to her face, wiping at it under the cover of her hair, and Justin opened his mouth to speak, but she started again.

"I... I keep remembering kissing you, the night before you left, and how it felt. I want to do that again." She turned back to Justin and looked intently into his eyes. "Kiss me."

"Alex..." Justin shook his head, his face twisted as if in pain. "We can't do this."

"Yes, we can," she snapped out. "You lean forward, I lean forward, our lips meet in the middle. I know you know how. I watched you learn how with what's-her-name, the goth of perky."

"Miranda," Justin supplied.

Alex waved the information aside. "Whatever. The point is, you mean you don't want to." She blinked hard, staring into Justin's grey-green eyes with her brown ones, and the expression of pain on his face deepened as her voice cracked. "Why not? What's wrong with me? Because whatever it is, I can change it." Her voice was small, hardly more than a whisper. Tears ran down her face, and she let them. "Am I not pretty enough? Is it because I've always been mean to you? Because -"

"Shh." Justin moved his arms up, around Alex's upper back, pulled her close and kissed her - on her temple. "No. No, no, no. Alex, there is nothing at all wrong with you. You are perfect and I love you, and if you were anyone else, I would be amazed that _you_ would want _me_. I _am_ amazed. But you're my sister," he said, his voice growing thick. "We can't do this. It's not right. I am here for you as much as you want me to be... but not like that. Not like that."

She pulled back a little and looked at him. "So, we just try to ignore this and hope it goes away? That's not my style. You know that." Alex shifted, trying to move onto Justin's lap but the booth seat didn't really make that possible. "When I want something, I go get it. And I want you."

Justin swallowed and shook his head slowly, looking into her eyes. "Alex… please, don't make me have to push you away. You know I love you. But we can't do this."

"'Can't' isn't a word I believe in. I want you. You want me. We -"

"And what about Mason?" Justin interrupted. "Aren't you kind of forgetting about the fact that you already have a boyfriend?"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Mason. Actually, I've been thinking about dumping him for a while. The whole werewolf thing is kind of cute sometimes, but did you know he sheds? And he tries to chase cats, no kidding. And he's got that whole huge jealousy-" She cut off suddenly, her eyes getting wide. Putting her hands against Justin's chest, she pushed, sliding herself away from him.

He let her go, not sure what was up, but not wanting to keep her against him if she didn't want to be there. "What -"

"_Shhh._ Don't turn around. Don't look out the window. He's out there, on the other side of the street. Shit, how did he even get here? He must be looking for you, he knows you moved out there, and if he's followed you here, he's smelled me too, and -"

"Go," Justin said. "Go back home. I'll talk to him."

"Are you sure? You know how he can be, and -"

"I'm sure. He's not going to attack me here, and if he does, I can handle him. Really."

Alex looked doubtful, but she nodded. Suddenly, she leaned forward and gave Justin a quick kiss on the lips, startling him - and then she was gone. Justin turned in his seat to look out the window, and saw Mason across the street, staring at him. For half a second, Justin froze, and then he raised a hand, waved at Mason, and gestured for him to come over.

* * *

><p><em>And I would do anything for love, I'd run right into hell and back<em>

_I would do anything for love, I'll never lie to you and that's a fact_

_But I'll never forget the way you feel right now, oh no, no way_

_And I would do anything for love, but I won't do that, I won't do that_

"I Would Do Anything For Love" - Meat Loaf


End file.
